Posted by McK1:
recall that stretch where Steph went down in January and Crawford had the reigns. some of the ugliest basketball to date.
Steve Francis is a much better lead guard than he has shown. Guys been in a serious rut snce Cat got traded from Orlando. Before that trade Orlando was headed to the playoffs. Grant was having a big comeback year and he and Mobley were combing for 40 points a game.
Francis for he left Houston - 45 wins.
Cawford has no record of leading teams anywhere but to high lotto picks.
Again, I want to keep perspective here, I'm not saying Crawford is a special PG, my comments are simply him at PG relative to Francis.
First off, I concede two things, Crawford was awful after Marbury's injury, and Francis can be much better than he was last year. But I believe crawford was awful in no small part to the pressure of having to replace Marbury directly after a win streak while also being included in every trade rumor. Even his sister, on realgm, was indicating she thought he'd be going to Orlando, and we subsequently learned that the magic had the choice to take Ariza for payroll relief OR Crawford (for who, I wonder) and they chose Reezy. So crawford was under significant pressure and uncertainty at the time and he handled it poorly. I think the latter part of the season is more indicative of what we should expect under normal starter role circumstances.
Francis has been woeful, and I know he can do better, but his limitations are still there. He's a guy like Marbury, who produces when orient the offense to the backcourt and perimeter and you give him free reign to run the show and call his own shots. (Think arenas in Wash.) Francis can produce if you let him pound the ball on the perimeter and freelance, but that represents everything I was opposed to with Marbury, bad attitude and all. In a structured system his indecisiveness and B-line perimeter shooting leaves one wanting, and Van Gundy tired of his unwillingness to stay within the offense and feed the post, and I can't imagine Brown liking that any more.
I just see a Francis+Crawford backcourt as two combo guards in their respective undersized and miscast positions, while a Crawford+Q backcourt is good sized with each player fitting better cast at his position.
But ultimately it really boils down to who's more willing to handle the position Brown's way and put out on D. If francis is willing to buckle down and pressure the ball and run the point like Billips he'll have my support. Either way though he needs to work on his perimeter shooting which has hovered around .300 for the last few years. The guys has lost all the arc on his shot.
